07-25-2009, 06:30 AM
My friend bought 3 little cattle dog puppies and now they are 12 months old and he hasn't seen a rat for 8 months. Of course he has a fenced yard. Dogs can't catch rats if they're on a dog run. As for the ugliness of your neighbor's yard, built some kind of "yard divider" so you can't see the neighbor's property. If there's a bad smell coming from the neighbor's property, then I would just close the windows on that side of my house. I know that doesn't seem fair, but there's nothing else you can do. I walked over and befriended all my neighbors 20 years ago. One of them doesn't speak English very well, but we like each other a lot. I like my neighbors very much even though they have done things that I hate (sounds like family?). If you become friends then you can bitch about the smell and they clean it up! I'm just giving you my honest experiences. I've lived in Puna for 21 years. Welcome!